-
Washington Post
|
Jul 25, 07 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The House Judiciary Committee voted to issue contempt citations to two of President Bush's top aides for defying subpoenas related to the US attorney firings scandal, edging Congress closer to a Constitutional showdown with the White House over its claims of executive privilege. The committee voted along party lines 22-17 to charge Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers.
More »
-
-
Politico
|
Jul 25, 07 6:50 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A proposed Senate resolution to censure President Bush for the Iraq war could have galvanized Democrats—but instead they're sharply divided over what some see as grandstanding, Politico reports. Only a handful back Russ Feingold's plan, or another tied to the US attorneys firings, nervous that nonbinding censures will only fuel public frustration with empty gestures.
More »
-
New York Times
|
Jul 24, 07 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Alberto Gonzales today refuted an ex-colleague's dramatic testimony about a 2004 visit to John Ashcroft's hospital bed, but the Senate Judiciary Committee wasn't buying it. Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter were openly skeptical of the AG's account of the scene in John Ashcroft's room, and Specter raised the possibility of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the US attorney firings.
More »
-
Washington Post
|
Jul 24, 07 9:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Congress is speeding toward a constitutional collision with the White House over the US attorney firings, the Washington Post reports. The House Judiciary Committee votes tomorrow on contempt citations against current chief of staff Joshua Bolten and ex-counsel Harriet Miers. President Bush has said he will challenge any attempt to prosecute them.
More »
-
-
USA Today
|
Jul 24, 07 7:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
After being frozen for a decade, the federal minimum wage jumps today from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. It rises to $6.55 a year from today and to $7.25 when the hike is completed in 2009. The change affects only the 20 states that haven't already boosted their minimums, but opponents still worry it could hurt small businesses.
More »
-
New York Times
|
Jul 23, 07 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Senate reached a rare bipartisan agreement to beef up insurance coverage for low-income kids, and now House Democrats are proposing a health care plan with an even wider scope. Their plan yokes the children's coverage to big changes in Medicare, and is sure to heat up the confrontation between the White House and Congress over health care, the New York Times reports.
More »
-
Associated Press
|
Jul 20, 07 7:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Iraq is gripped by widespread fear and is unlikely to fulfill political and security goals by the pivotal September assessment, US officials told lawmakers yesterday in a briefing from Baghdad. "One word I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq is 'fear,' " said ambassador Ryan Crocker, adding that the country has a "considerable ways to go" toward political stability.
More »
-
Reuters
|
Jul 20, 07 6:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten may face contempt charges over the administration's refusal to turn over subpoenened documents. A House panel yesterday voted 7-3 to reject the White House contention that the documents—sought in the probe of the dismissals of US attorneys—are covered by executive privilege, Reuters reports.
More »
-
Washington Post
|
Jul 19, 07 10:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Bush rebuffed a health care compromise yesterday that would expand a program that provides coverage to poor children. The Senate's bipartisan proposal would insure 3.3 million more kids, but Bush says he'll veto any expansion of government health care on philosophical grounds—despite pleas from within the GOP.
More »
-
Washington Post
|
Jul 18, 07 5:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Public appearances by top guns in the Office of National Drug Control Policy may have been used to support vulnerable GOP Congressman in the run-up to the '06 elections, a Democratic lawmaker charged yesterday. Henry Waxman, chair of the House Oversight Committee, said it was part of a larger White House scheme to politicize federal agencies.
More »
-
New York Times
|
Jul 18, 07 1:04 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Senate Democrats failed to collect enough votes this morning to pass a bill that would force President Bush to begin pulling troops out of Iraq within 120 days. After a spirited all-night debate, 52 voted in favor of the measure and 47 against, but rules require 60 "yes" votes to avert a Republican filibuster.
More »
-
New York Times
|
Jul 17, 07 9:26 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Democrats will plunge the Senate into a rare overnight debate tonight, hoping to pressure Republicans uneasy about the president’s Iraq war strategy by forcing a simple majority vote. The session will conclude in a vote on troop withdrawal tomorrow morning. Republicans responded to yesterday's announcement by accusing Democrats of playing politics and suggesting they’ll filibuster, the Times reports.
More »
-
Washington Post
|
Jul 14, 07 11:22 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Two of the GOP's most respected foreign policy experts want troop realignment in Iraq, and they proposed Senate legislation yesterday that calls for the White House to have a plan in place by mid-October. The move by Richard Lugar and John Warner was the latest sign of disintegrating Republican support for President Bush's Iraq strategy, the Washington Post reports.
More »
-
Associated Press
|
Jul 12, 07 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The House voted late today to require the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq to begin within 120 days as part of legislation that sets an April 1 deadline for complete redeployment. The 223-201 vote, a largely symbolic move given that Senate support isn't sufficient to override a filibuster, went largely along party lines.
More »
-
New York Times
|
Jul 12, 07 6:10 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The House OKed a major shakeup of student loans yesterday, in a plan that will eliminate $19 billion in subsidies to lending companies and send the cash directly to students. The bill will increase funding for Pell grants and cut the interest rates on all federally-funded loans—assuming it survives a veto threat from the White House.
More »
-
Associated Press
|
Jul 11, 07 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Two more Republican senators crossed party lines today to back legislation that calls for the US to start pulling out of Iraq within 4 months and withdraw by April. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Maine's Olympia Snowe of Maine signed on on as co-sponsors of the measure, along with Oregon's Gordon Smith and Democrats Carl Levin and Jack Reed.
More »
-
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
|
Jul 10, 07 1:33 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter atoned yesterday for a "very serious sin in my past," after his telephone number turned up on the scandal-soaked call logs of Deborah Jeane Palfrey. The so-called DC Madam was forced to denude the records of her million-dollar escort service last week.
More &raq